‘King of Cool’ auction set for Saturday at Spot Bar

Proceeds to help make Dean Martin statue a reality

STEUBENVILLE -- The Spot Bar in Steubenville is the place to be Saturday for Dean Martin fans looking to take home some "King of Cool" memorabilia.

And their purchases at an auction at 217 S. Fourth St. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. will help make possible what Rose Angelica said was a goal from the get-go when the Dean Martin festivals began years ago -- to erect a statue of Steubenville's native son.

"I'm using a lot of my collection of the past 25 years to donate to the auction to help build the Dean Martin statue," explained Angelica, the founder and former chair of the Dean Martin Festival.

Angelica is part of a committee that has been organized to raise $80,000 to have a life-sized bronze statue of Martin erected at Fort Steuben Park along Third Street. It will be placed beside the historic bronze marker already on the grounds with a goal of having unveiling at the Dean Martin Hometown celebration in 2023.

The road from here to there, though, is paved with a need for auction purchases Saturday or outright donations anytime.

"I have to do something with it," Angelica said of her collection. "It's better it goes to a good cause. I have a lot of stuff. You'd be surprised how many autographed pictures I have of movie stars. I've got tons of stuff that they'd sent me over the years or when they were here for the festival and wrote a lot of autographs, like Regis (Philbin) and different people like that who came. They signed everything when they were here, so I have a lot of stuff.

"I'm glad to use it for something positive like that, because we've been wanting to put a statue up since day one. When we started the festival in 1996, Dom Mucci (former Steubenville mayor) and I wanted to put up a statue. Well, we couldn't come up with the money, so we helped do the mural," Angelica said, referring to the Dean Martin mural on the side of the Kroger store in Hollywood City Center.

Festival money also helped secure the bronze marker at the fort, according to Angelica, who retired as festival chair after Martin's 100th birthday in 2017 to work on her own music and relocated to Florida. An award-winning country music entertainer, Angelica said she has been "laying low" since the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of shows and festivals where she was to perform. She said she will remain in the area until October when it comes time to perform at key festivals in Branson, Mo., and Nashville.

The former Mingo Junction resident was contacted earlier this year about being part of the statue effort by former Steubenville resident Gerald Ravasio of Baton Rouge, La., who originated the idea, and Flora VerStraten-Merrin, media chair for the committee that Ravasio is chairing. That led to Zoom meetings with other committee members, who include Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla; Paul Zuros, executive director of Historic Fort Steuben; Mary Ann Freeze, owner of Prodigal Daughter Treasures and Trinkets in downtown Steubenville; Steubenville 5th Ward Councilman Willie Paul; and volunteers Linda and Roger Hilty. Angelica, who chaired the Dean Martin Festival Committee and Scholarship Fund for 21 years, and Jo Jo DiAlbert, the owner of Spot Bar where Dean Martin festival events have been a staple, are advisers.

"We decided to dig through my collection," Angelica said of the auction that will be conducted by Cedar One Realty. "I said listen, I have a lot of stuff, and I would be glad to donate it to the statue because that's a project that we wanted to do from day one, and we never did it, so I'm glad to use that for something positive for Dino, and most of this stuff is Dino stuff. I do have other stars' autographs and stuff that's from friends of his and from people who really liked him, but I have some really great stuff, some rare things, and I think people will enjoy it, you know buying it, and they can enjoy it now, because I've enjoyed it for 25 years, and now it's their turn."

One of those estimated 50 items is a Dean Martin box set of every song he ever recorded on CDs.

"It's with a beautiful book, and it's a real rare piece," Angelica said. "They only made a few hundred of those, and I have that up for auction. The original cost on it was probably $500 when it first came out, and they didn't press that many of them because it was so expensive. I was lucky enough to receive one so that's going up for auction, that's special."

"We have the famous 'Ocean's 11' poster signed by Sid Avery, the photographer who took the picture," she said. "He was the photographer of Hollywood back in the day. He was very famous in Hollywood, and the first couple of years we started the festival, he personally sent me a bunch of these autographed posters that he signed of 'Ocean's 11,' that famous pose of all the (Rat Pack) guys, and those in California and Vegas framed sell for $2,000 apiece because he has since died, and a photographer's work is art.

"It's a beautiful piece. It's on great paper, real thick paper, and it's just beautiful, and I'm going to put up 10 of those, and I'm hoping to get some good money with those, and then I have 10 each of Dean Martin/ Frank Sinatra lithographs that were given to me by an artist years ago, we never sold them. They were sitting in my basement, and there are only 295 of each of them, and they're all numbered so I'm going to put up 10 each of those. They're really nice pieces, they're framed, they're beautiful," she added.

"We have the Dean Martin celebrity roasts, the complete box set of all 57 roasts," Angelica continued. "When they put those out on TV, they were $10 apiece so that's $570 worth of film right there. I have them all. They're all in a real nice box with a book, and it's really a nice collection if you like to collect that sort of thing or if you like to watch them again. It's hilarious entertainment -- really funny.

"And I have some of the Dean Martin shows on DVD for sale, and sheet music of some of his greatest hits, movie stills that they used to put in the windows of the theaters and a whole bunch of pictures from NBC Studios from his show and on the back of them is a typed synopsis of who is in there with him and what the show was about," she said.

The auction is for fans, collectors or anyone with an interest in seeing a statue erected of the entertainer born as Dino Crocetti in Steubenville on June 7, 1917. Angelica anticipates attendees will include residents of Pittsburgh and Cleveland who came to the festival through the years.

"There are collectors out there," she said.

"I think we've got a good shot at raising $5,000 to $10,000," Angelica estimated of the auction's potential. Cash and checks only will be accepted.

"Hopefully, we can raise the money and make it happen. He has a lot of fans. People don't realize how big this guy was," she said.

Angelica said there are no Dean Martin statues, except for one in Las Vegas at the country club where he used to golf.

"Hoboken (N.J.) put one up for Frank Sinatra last year, Canonsburg has one for Perry Como and Hopalong Cassidy has one in Cambridge, so it's only right that Dino gets his statue," Angelica said.

"It should have been up a long time ago," she said.

"We invite everyone to come down. It's free to get in. We'd like to see people to all the events," she said of the overall Dean Martin celebration that runs today through Saturday.

Donations toward the statue can be accepted several ways. Online payment (Paypal/credit card) can be accessed at oldfortsteuben.com and selecting donate. Scroll down and select/click "Dean Martin Statue" and donate, or mail a check to Historic Fort Steuben, 120 S. Third St., Steubenville, OH 43952. Make checks payable to Old Fort Steuben Inc. with "Dean Martin Statue" in the memo line. The committee will accept cash donations during the Dean Martin Hometown Celebration on Friday and Saturday. It will have a booth at Fort Steuben Park.

Any organization, business or group interested in donating $1,000 or more for the bronze statue can contact Zuros at the Visitor Center. Those donating $1,000 or more will have a paver installed with their name/business/organizational name on the paver where the statue will be located.

There is a Facebook group established to promote the project and raise funds, according to VerStraten-Merrin, its administrator. It can be found at Dean Martin Hometown Statue (Fund Raiser).

The statue of Martin will be life-sized, 6 feet tall and is anticipated to be a similar pose like the one in the mural at Hollywood City Center.